New Energy Blue planned construction in Iowa of a biorefinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- New Energy Blue planned construction in Iowa of a biomass refinery designed to produce renewable carbon-negative automotive fuel, which replaces gasoline, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"Our Iowa project can keep one million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere every year–like taking 200,000 cars off the road," says Thomas Corle, CEO. "Future refineries are expected to be twice the size of the first."

The company is developing New Energy Freedom biomass refinery on a 155-acre site near Mason City, Iowa. 275,000 tons of crop residue (cornstalks and wheat straw) will be locally sourced, then converted into 20 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol and 95 tons of lignin, a solid biofuel and natural binder. Half the greenhouse-gas reduction comes from replacing petroleum products, the other half from sequestering soil carbons through best farming practices.

"Our cellulosic fuel can exceed California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard policy and its rigorous air quality requirements," says Corle. "Other states continue to adopt similar policies, which drive the growing global demand for carbon-negative transportation fuels." Strong demand is also expected for the refinery's lignin. Produced by a clean process, it can replace oil-derived bitumen as the binder in asphalt. "A greener way to pave roads and shingle roofs," Corle says.

Besides being one of America's first carbon-negative refineries, New Energy Freedom represents the first large-scale use of Inbicon bioconversion technology outside of Denmark. New Energy Blue's team is a spin-off of the technology's development. The company purchased exclusive rights to license and build-out refineries from Orsted in 2019. Freedom's CapEx is about USD200 million, about the same amount invested in Inbicon's 15-year development. Orsted built and operated a demonstration refinery for five years, supplying 2G ethanol to Danish petrol stations.

New Energy Blue has completed process engineering around several different feedstocks and is now completing a site-specific design for construction next year in Iowa. The company plans to build four more biomass refineries over the next 6 years. Albury Fleitas, company president, is leading the financing of the project. "We've gained equity and debt interests to build-out multiple refineries from private and institutional sources," Fleitas states. "What's more, the USDA greenlighted the project under phase-one section 9003 for a construction loan guarantee."

The refinery breaks down plant fiber into lignin and two sugars, which are currently fermented into fuel-ethanol. The technical flexibility of the process allows project owners to capitalize on dozens of downstream opportunities as they arise. Utilizing non-GMO feedstocks like grain straws is being evaluated for future sites. Because the hemicellulose can be processed into a sought-after sugar substitute, xylitol, snack-food makers who use it can market their products as a healthier choice. The two sugars can also be turned into polyethylene and replace a popular plastic now made from oil. Besides saving carbons and cutting pollution, the refineries will create new green jobs, give growers additional income, and pump millions of dollars through local economies.

As per MRC, US crude oil stockpiles rose last week, breaking a streak of eight weeks of declines, as imports surged to their highest in a year, reported Reuters with reference to the Energy Information Administration's statement. Crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels in week to July 16 to 439.7 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 4.5 million-barrel drop.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jefferson Energy, a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC entered into a new contract to expand terminal services to ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Jefferson Energy is constructing approximately 1.9 million barrels of new storage capacity at the Jefferson Energy terminal and five connecting pipelines between the ExxonMobil Beaumont refinery and Jefferson Energy terminal that will increase utilization of its existing marine infrastructure. The engineering and construction has begun for this second phase of the Jefferson Energy terminal master plan buildout and will increase total storage to approximately 6.2 million barrels.

“Combined with the successful completion of the ExxonMobil Cross Channel Pipelines project in February 2021, this project further strengthens the strong relationship between ExxonMobil and Jefferson Energy. We are excited to again be working with ExxonMobil to build a domestic and international refined products hub while providing safe, best in class logistics optionality to ExxonMobil for years to come,” said Joe Adams, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FTAI.

“The expansion adds strategic value for ExxonMobil and our Beaumont refinery complex,” said Anant Patel, Americas Business Development Manager for ExxonMobil’s Fuels and Lubricants division. “Increasing our logistics capability will help us better serve our customers."

The Jefferson Energy terminal is located on the Neches River in the heart of ExxonMobil’s Beaumont, Texas refining complex. The Jefferson Energy terminal has been in operation since 2012 and currently has over 4.3 million barrels of heated and unheated storage servicing both crude oil and refined products. In addition to the terminal’s storage and blending capabilities, the terminal has six rail loop tracks, is triple served by the BNSF, KCS, and Union Pacific railroads and utilizes two marine docks for regional and global marine movements.

Following the completion of this project, Jefferson Energy expects to continue developing additional storage, marine and rail capabilities, and pipeline connectivity. Jefferson Energy is primarily owned and funded by FTAI, a publicly traded entity specializing in infrastructure investments globally and across North America.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil aims to increase price hike for all high density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) from August 1.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased.

Exxon Mobil Corporation is the largest American private oil company, one of the largest corporations in terms of market capitalization in the world. The company produces oil in various regions of the world, including the USA, Canada, the Middle East, Azerbaijan, etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Northern California regulators directed two of the state's largest oil refineries to slash their fine particulate air pollution, which will require costly modifications at the plants, reporte Reuters.

The 19-3 vote by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District governing board means refineries in the area, including Chevron Corp's Richmond plant and PBF Energy Inc's Martinez refinery, will have to install wet gas scrubbers to reduce pollution spewed by their gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking units (FCCU) within five years.

The new requirement is expected to cut PBF and Chevron’s particulate matter emissions from its cat crackers by about 70%, the air quality district estimates.

Refineries emit heavy amounts of pollution as crude oil is processed into fuel, and small particulate matter - consisting of solid or liquid airborne particles - is among the most harmful pollutants. Prolonged exposure is known to lead to respiratory, pulmonary and cognitive health problems. FCCUs, which turn heavier crude oil into lighter petroleum products including gasoline, are among the largest polluters of fine particulate matter in the San Francisco Bay-area.

Under the amended rule, refineries with FCCUs must limit annual emissions of particulate matter to 0.01 grain per dry standard cubic foot within the next five years. Chevron and PBF, the refiners expected to be most affected by the rule change, urged regulators to consider a less stringent 0.02 limit by 2023. Valero Energy Corp's Benicia refinery already has a wet gas scrubber.

Refiners and their advocates, including several refinery labor unions, said upgrading the FCCUs would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, lead to refinery layoffs and put pressure on the plants to shut down. Running the wet gas scrubbers would also require excessive water use in an already parched area, they argued.

As MRC reported previously, Chevron Corp is considering permanently closing the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 112,229 barrel-per-day (bpd) Pasadena, Texas refinery as part of a possible reconfiguration of the plant. Idling the shut 52,000-bpd FCC would be part of converting the refinery on the Houston Ship Channel to a simpler hydroskimming configuration.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.

cheChevron is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies. Chevron produces crude oil and natural gas; manufactures transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and additives; and develops technologies that enhance our business and the industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian refiners' crude throughput in June was little changed from the previous month when it fell to multi-month lows as a severe second wave of coronavirus restrained demand, forcing refiners to reduce runs, said Reuters.

Refiners processed 4.50 million barrels per day (18.4 million tonnes) of crude oil in June, provisional government data showed on Friday. This compares with 4.49 million barrels per day (bpd) processed in May, which was the lowest since October 2020. Crude oil imports also fell to a 9-month low in June as refiners curtailed purchases amid higher fuel inventories due to low consumption and renewed lockdowns in the previous two months, data obtained from trade sources showed.

Refineries' crude oil throughput last month was still 4.7% higher than June 2020 levels. India's fuel demand also inched higher after slumping to a nine-month low in May as many states in the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer started easing restrictions and mobility picked up.

Indian state fuel retailers' gasoline sales also exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the first fortnight of July, preliminary industry data showed last week. "With a further likely easing of mobility restrictions, I would expect oil demand to recover further, resulting in higher refinery processing rates down the road," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

Indian refiners operated at an average rate of 89.59% of capacity in June, down from 92.37% of capacity in May, the government data showed. The country's largest refiner, Indian Oil Corp, last month operated its directly owned plants at 93.53% capacity, as per the data.

Reliance, owner of the world's biggest refining complex, operated its plants at 93.12% capacity in June. Natural gas output rose 19.5% to 2.78 billion cubic metres, while crude oil production eased nearly 2% to 606,000 barrels per day (2.48 million tonnes), data from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas showed.

We remind that Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), said in June he expects the company's deal with Saudi Aramco to materialise this year. Meanwhile, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Saudi Aramco and the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, joined the board of Reliance as an independent director.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining of Kenya signed an MoU to promote the decarbonization process to tackle climate change through new industrial models of fully-integrated circular economy along the whole bio-fuel production value chain, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The parties will jointly conduct feasibility studies to develop waste and residue collection as well as agricultural projects, with the purpose of establishing a wide range of feedstock sources that do not compete with food cycles, to be transformed into bio-fuels and bio-products that might contribute to feed Eni’s bio-refineries in Gela and Venice, Italy. The parties will also assess the opportunity of converting Mombasa refinery into a bio-refinery, as well as the construction of a new plant for second-generation bio-ethanol from waste biomass, leveraging on Eni technologies Ecofining™ e Proesa.

The agricultural development project focuses on the development of sustainable oil crop cultivations - namely, low ILUC (indirect land use change) feedstock such as cover crops, castor in degraded lands, croton trees in agro-forestry systems and other agro-industrial co-products. The waste and residue collection would be focused to promote and implement a collection system for used cooked oil (UCO) and of other agro-processing residues.

This initiative will contribute to diversifying Kenya’s energy mix and supporting the overall de-carbonization process, while also decreasing the Country’s dependence from imports of petroleum products. Other expected benefits include developing sustainable agricultural activities and circular economy, producing power from renewable sources, fostering the economic competitiveness of the local industry and creating new jobs.

The agreement contributes to the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The projects also contribute to the implementation of the Kenya Bioenergy Strategy, Updated Nationally Determined Contribution, Kenya’s National Development Plans, including Kenya Vision 2030. Also, the initiatives are in line with Eni’s commitment to play a pivotal role in the decarbonization process and with the Company’s target to become palm-oil free by 2023 and to double bio-refineries capacity to around 2mln tons by 2024. Eni has been present in Kenya since 2013 through its subsidiary Eni Kenya.

As per MRC, Versalis, a chemical subsidiary of the Italian state-owned Eni, plans to begin maintenance in September at its ABS plant in Mantua (Mantova, Italy). The plant has two lines with a capacity of 95,000 tonnes of ABS per year, and maintenance will be carried out on one of the production lines, while the other line will continue to operate. The exact dates of the beginning and end of the repair are not yet known.

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Report, in Russia, the manufacturer Plastik (Uzlovaya) has reduced the July prices of its material for various buyers. So, unpainted ABS with a volume of 20 tonnes or more is sold by the plant at a price of Rb293,000-300,000/tonne, FCA Nodal, VAT included.

Versalis is a petrochemical company, a 100% subsidiary of the Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA. The company manufactures a wide range of petrochemical products and is also one of the world's leading elastomer companies.

Eni S.p.A. (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) is an Italian oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. Eni operates in 70 countries around the world.
MRC